G7 finance ministers reject protectionist measures
ITALY: The Group of Seven finance ministers pledged Saturday
to avoid resorting to protectionism as they try to stimulate their own
economies in the face of the world’s worst economic crisis since the
1930s.
The meeting marked the international debut of U.S. Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner, who assured his counterparts that President Barack
Obama’s $787 billion plan to resuscitate the economy, approved Friday,
would not violate in any way the United States’ commitment to free
trade.
Geithner, who was among friends and colleagues he had worked with
from his days at the Federal Bank, appealed to the “common imperative”
to sustain open trade. “These are global challenges and it is imperative
that we work together to address them,” Geithner told reporters
afterward.
“Effective global response will require sustained action by
governments working with the international financial institutions.”
The meeting’s host, Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti,
affirmed “strong agreement” among the ministers on rejecting
protectionism.
“It is a concrete danger, not only for economies that depend heavily
on exports,” he said.
Even as gloomy economic news piled up - with Europe sinking deeper
into recession and the G-7 itself saying the crisis will continue at
least through the end of the year - the ministers touted in their final
statement “the exceptional measures” that had been “collectively taken.”
The meeting was largely an affirmation of actions already being taken
- from the importance of stimulus packages to the need to isolate bad
assets - but the final statement didn’t indicate how that would happen.
“I do think a huge volume of effort has been taken and the markets
are reacting in a better way than before,” said Luxembourg Prime
Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who attended the meeting as president of
the group representing the 16 countries that use the euro currency.
“This is an ongoing process. Maybe this sounds like a repetition ...
but you have to put it in perspective.” German Finance Minister Peer
Steinbrueck said concrete progress on such measures as drafting
regulations on hedge funds must be made at the Group of 20 summit in
London on April 2, bringing together leaders of the industrialized
nations with rising economic stars like China and Brazil.
Germany and Japan - net exporters - were especially keen to see the
group endorse efforts to fight protectionism, Steinbrueck said, noting
that 40 percent of German output was export-driven.
“This is the reason why we are the most affected by this worldwide
recession,” Steinbrueck told a news conference.
Rome, Sunday, Ap |